Matthew 7:16–20
16 By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in thy name, and cast out devils in thy name, and done many miracles in thy name?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Roman Pagan gods at St. Peter's Basilica gate
Promotion of pedophilia at St. Peters Basilica gate: Pagan god Zeus raping Ganymede
The Great Apostasy, 11th Century: An exposé of some of the most wicked heads of the Beast, the Roman Church, the Whore of Babylon predicted in the Book of Apocalypse. The most evil beings in history, apostates, heretics, idolaters, homosexual perverts, adulterers, murderers and thieves. Rome the cesspool of corruption, the See of the Antichrist.
Alexander VI (1492-1503)
Background: If greed is good, then Alexander VI was the "best pope". He literally bought his way into becoming pope, bankrolled by France and Genoa and his own merchant family.
Alexander VI, Rodrigo Borgia. Perhaps the most well known of the popes behaving badly, Pope Alexander VI built an empire for himself by defrocking his own son, who was a cardinal, and making him into a duke, and then marrying his daughter to several princes and dukes (after some untimely but very convenient deaths which made her a widow more than once) in order to gain land and power. He was gregarious and good humored as he was cunning. Accused of incest, theft, murder, and intrigue, and a man so obese that his own funeral needed to be hurried before his bloated body exploded from heat and weight.
Lucrezia and some of Alexander's many spawn.
Why He is Awful: Alexander VI became the Halliburton and Dick Cheney of the papacy, swindling his way onto the throne with cash and selling the papacy a piece at a time to warring empires in Europe. While he was raking in the wealth and involving the Holy See in French and Italian political intrigues, he was also amassing women and power for his family.
One of his most infamous stunts was to use his attractive daughter Lucrezia, whom he supposedly had an affair with, as bait for wealthy merchants. When a rich merchant prince would visit Rome Alexander VI would introduce his daughter, have her seduce them, and then marry his daughter off to the merchant for a vast dowry. Unfortunately for the merchant, Alexander VI was the pope and got to decide who was married and who wasn't married. As soon as a wealthier merchant rolled into Rome Lucrezia's marriage would end and she would become available to the next highest bidder.
Alexander VI was also wildly unpopular with devout Catholics because he never made any attempt to be religious. He was a 100% secular pope, ignoring all of the rules and traditions of the church. He married, had children, and sired countless children outside of marriage.
He also held extravagant parties that often tended to become orgies. These parties were so intense that one of them, known as the Banquet of Chestnuts, is actually a part of recorded papal history. 50 prostitutes would bring in baskets of chestnuts and empty them out on the floor. The women's clothes would then be auctioned off and once they were naked they would crawl around on the floor picking up the chestnuts. Then the members of the clergy, including the pope, would have sex with the prostitutes and for prizes. He was involved in the demonic practice of Astrology, like Paul II.
According to historian William Manchester, "Servants kept score of each man's orgasms, for the pope greatly admired virility and measured a man's machismo by his ejaculative capacity."
When Alexander VI's political intrigues ran him into financial trouble, he instituted a brutal pogrom against the wealthy, confiscating riches under the thin guise of criminal enforcement. If the wealthy resisted they were put to death. These pogroms fueled instability and eventually led to Alexander's involvement in a series of unfortunate military struggles. Assassins, paid by Alexander's many enemies, made repeated attempts on him. In 1503 they finally succeeded with a plate of poisoned food.
John Burchard, a sort of living papal Captain's Log, recorded Alexander VI's gruesome death.
"Alexander VI's stomach became swollen and turned to liquid, while his face became wine-colored and his skin began to peel off. Finally his stomach and bowels bled profusely."
Alexander VI died soon after the poisoning. His last words were, "Wait a minute."
Astrologia - Vatican Alexander VI's apartment
John XII (955-964)
Background: If the 16th century was the renaissance of shitty popes, the 10th century was the true dark age of the papacy. Popes during this time period were basically Genghis Kahn with a prettier hat. Pope John XII assumed the throne of Saint Peter at the seemingly tender age of 18, but back in the 10th century people lived to be about 25, so that was no excuse for the horrible reign that was to follow.
Typical papal whores, breast naked.
Why He is Awful: Pope John XII was a notorious sex fiend. He had sex with women and men in the papal palace and when visitors refused his attentions he went ahead and raped them anyway. The same hospitality was extended to his two young sisters. He held massive orgies and took particular pleasure in defiling holy sites, like the tombs of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, with his sinful acts.
A list of crimes John XIII was accused of was included in the Patrologia Latina, which I assume is some ancient text of absolute bastard popes. These crimes are too numerous to mention here, but a few highlights include:
Ordaining a 10 year old as bishop
Having sex with his niece (I guess raping his sisters didn't count)
Turning the sacred palace into a brothel
Castrating and then murdering a cardinal
Blinding and then murdering his confessor
Toasting to the devil and invoking pagan gods during dice games
Refusing to make the sign of the cross, which seems like a job requirement for the pope
Pope John XII was no stranger to political intrigue. He granted Otto I of Germany the title of emperor in order to protect himself from his political enemies, but Otto I began to take more power than John XII was comfortable with. He conspired against his supposed ally, but Otto I returned to Rome and deposed John XII from the papacy and installed a puppet pope.
John XII fled into exile, but gathered an army of allies and mercenaries. He returned to Rome, ran off the puppet pope, and took back his title. Otto I mustered an army to finish off John XII once and for all, but he was too late. By the time Otto I arrived in Rome Pope John XII was dead. It is rumored that he was killed by a jealous husband when the man caught John XII in bed with his wife. By the way, his son became Pope John XIII and died the exact same way.
Pope John XII was an evil person. There is no getting around it. If he is not the most awful pope of all time, he is certainly in contention as the most evil.
Paul III (1534-1549)
Background: Pope Paul III, predecessor to Julius III, reigned during a particularly turbulent time for the Catholic Church and he made some difficult decisions. His edicts against slavery in the New World were the source of a great deal of conflict and he had to grapple with entrenched corruption in the Church, the formation of the Church of England, and the agitation of Martin Luther. He ruthlessly fought Protestantism and was known for having men strangled and then burned.
Why He is Awful: Pope Paul III wasn't just a bad pope, he was a bad dude all around. He murdered relatives, including poisoning his mother and niece, to inherit the family fortune. This sort of power was what it took to muscle his way to becoming pope in the disastrous aftermath of Clement VII. The most famous anecdote about Paul III's ruthlessness revolves around a theological dispute between two cardinals and a Polish bishop. When the argument wore on, Paul III had all three men hacked to death with swords.
Paul III was also notoriously corrupt, despite his supposed anti-corruption stance. Any position in the church was for sale and he famously took control of some 45,000 Roman prostitutes and then took a cut of their earnings. That's right, Paul III, the world's first pimp pope. Paul III's most well-known lover was an attractive young lady named Costanza Farnese.
She was the pope's daughter.
Julius III (1550-1555)
Background: Julius was one of the rare duly-elected popes of the 16th century, most having come to power through intrigues or even murder. At the time, being pope was to the richest and most powerful families of Italy much like being President of the United States is to the Bushes and the Clintons. Compared to these families, Julius III was like the war hero of cardinals.
Decades before becoming pope, Julius was traded as a hostage by the dumb and cowardly Pope Clement VII to Emperor Charles V during the sacking of Rome. Julius would have been killed, but in a complicated twist Cardinal Pompeo Colonna, enemy of Clement VII and rogue commando cardinal, rescued the hostages including Julius III from the clutches of the Emperor. It was the original special ops mission. Despite such a dramatic history, Julius III would go on to become one of the vilest popes ever to sit on the throne of Saint Peter.
Why He is Awful:
Once he was elected pope, Julius III looted the papal coffers to
renovate his mansion in Rome. The Villa Giula, as it is known, became
the full-time residence of Julius III and the pope oversaw the
construction. He hired only the best (including Michelangelo) and had
little interest in the affairs of the pope. Following on the heels of
meddlesome popes like Clement VII, you might think this was a good
thing, but Julius III had some unfortunate uses for all that free time.In addition to the wholesale looting of the Catholic treasury so that he could flip his house, Julius III was known to have a thing for younger men. Alright, he liked to have sex with kids. Okay, he was infamous for having sex with kids.
That mansion of his was decorated with statues and frescoes depicting kids having sex with each other. Julius III didn't just let slip that he molested kids, he flaunted it. He decorated his house to flaunt it. He didn't need Martin Bashir to ask him about sleeping with some crippled white kid, Julius III was having Michelangelo chisel sculptures of mouth rape. He was blinging with child porn.
Controversial poet and scholar Giovanni Della Casa wrote an poem about Julius III in which Della Casa defended the practice of sodomizing young boys. The poem was known throughout Italy and was written while Julius III was the pope. That's like the 16th century equivalent of having a top 5 song on the Billboard charts name-dropping you as a child rapist.
All of these things combined would easily give Julius a spot on the list, but his masterpiece of popery came when Julius mixed business and pleasure. He had a tendency to appoint hot underage studs to the position of cardinal, but took things to a whole new level when he adopted a beggar. He raised the kid as a sort of foul-mouthed whore that hung out in Rome and was bestowed with the title of cardinal-nephew, which sounds and is creepy, but was also an extremely powerful and prestigious position in the church. Julius III and his boytoy inspired more than a century of anti-papacy sentiment throughout Europe.
Read also:
Rome, The Whore of Babylon: Satanism in the Vatican
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